Data Solutions Engineer (K-12) - In-person preferred

## About the role We're hiring a Data Solutions Engineer to own the path from a district's request to a working data integration. You'll analyze, extract, and transform K-12 data (Python preferred) across the full range of systems school districts run — SIS, assessment, intervention, finance, and everything in between. When a new source needs to come online, you'll figure out how to get the data out, what shape it's actually in, and how to map it into our semantic layer cleanly and reliably. You'll also be our primary hands on vendor relationships — working directly with the SIS providers, assessment platforms, and data systems districts depend on to scope access, troubleshoot exports, and unblock integrations. You're the bridge between what a customer asks for and the engineering it takes to deliver, and you'll lead those initiatives end to end rather than handing them off. This is a hands-on, self-directed role for someone who can work independently across both the technical and the relationship sides — comfortable in a Python notebook in the morning and on a call with a district's IT director or a vendor's integration team in the afternoon. ## What you'll own - The full lifecycle of district data integrations — from initial request and source analysis through extraction, transformation, validation, and a clean handoff into the Nexus semantic layer - Hands-on data work across the K-12 stack (Python preferred): pulling from SIS, assessment, intervention, and finance systems via APIs, SFTPs, exports, and whatever else a district happens to run - Primary ownership of vendor relationships — scoping data access, navigating integration requirements, troubleshooting exports, and keeping initiatives moving with the platforms districts rely on - Translation between customer requests and engineering execution — turning "we need X" into a scoped, buildable integration and leading it to completion - Data quality and reliability for the sources you bring online — mapping, normalization, edge-case handling, and the unglamorous work of making sure the numbers are right - Repeatable integration patterns and internal documentation — capturing how each system works so the next district onto the same source is faster than the last - Tight feedback loops with product and engineering — surfacing recurring friction, integration priorities, and the real-world data problems that should shape the platform ## What we're looking for - Strong hands-on data engineering or analytics engineering experience — you're fluent in Python and comfortable extracting, cleaning, and transforming messy, real-world data from systems that weren't designed to share it - Real fluency with data integration fundamentals: APIs, SFTPs, file-based exports, schemas, and the practical reality of getting structured data out of third-party systems - Proven ability to own a problem end to end — analyzing an unfamiliar data source, scoping the work, and delivering a working integration without waiting to be told how - Genuinely self-directed. You don't need a roadmap to start — you build one. You don't need permission to email a vendor, open a connection, or make a call on how a source should be mapped - Credible and clear with people, not just systems — you can hold a working relationship with a district's IT team or a vendor's integration contact and keep an initiative moving across organizational lines - Strong communicator in writing and on calls. You can explain a technical constraint to a non-technical customer and a customer requirement to an engineer, and lose nothing in either direction ## Preferred - Experience with K-12 data systems (SIS platforms, assessment vendors, state reporting) or other complex, multi-source data environments - Familiarity with state accountability and reporting systems (TEA, ACAP, etc.) - Experience working directly with external vendors or partners on data access and integration - EdTech, govtech, or other SaaS experience involving messy, heterogeneous customer data - Based in or willing to relocate to Knoxville, TN